Sorority Remembers Honorary Member and Prolific Author Bebe Moore Campbell
Heralded as one of the most important African American novelists of the century
Alpha Kappa Alpha’s 200,000 members worldwide are mourning the loss of Honorary Member and distinguished author Elizabeth Bebe Moore Campbell.
Campbell, who was an award-winning and best-selling author, used her gift of writing to chronicle, in fiction, real-life subjects including race relations, mental illness and love and relationships. Among the novels were Brothers and Sisters, which touched a cord for its examination of how America is divided along ethnic and social lines. Your Blues Ain’t Like Mine tackled the issue of prejudice in the U.S. during a 40-year span of time.
A bold and courageous writer, she also tackled sensitive subjects related to mental health in her novel, 72 Hour Hold, which captured the emotions and issues surrounding a mother’s relationship with a daughter afflicted with a bipolar disorder. Taking the subject of mental illness to the stage, she penned the play, Even with the Madness, in 2003.
Showing her range as a writer, she also wrote children’s books, including the highly-heralded Sometimes My Mommy Gets Angry, which won the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill Outstanding Literature Award. I’m So Hungry, another children’s book, is scheduled to be released next year.
Campbell also connected with her readers in the book, Successful Women, Angry Men: Backlash in the Two-Career Marriage, which took a candid look at relationship dynamics. A child of divorce who divided her time between her mother and her paraplegic father inspired her second novel, Sweet Summer: Growing Up With and Without My Dad. She related the poignant relationship with her grandmother in the novel, Singing in the Comeback Choir. And, she captured the powerful and sensitive relationship between an African American woman and a Holocaust survivor in her 2001 book, What You Owe Me.
In recognition of her vast body of work, she was the recipient of the NAACP Image Award for Literature for Your Blues Ain’t Like Mine. She also earned a host of other awards and recognitions, including the Distinguished Alumni Award from the African American Alumni Council, the Los Angeles Times’ Honor for the “Best Book of 2001” for What You Owe Me, and The New York Times Notable Book of the Year.
Always the consummate journalist, Campbell contributed stories and articles to The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, Essence and Ebony.
Hailed by Essence as one of the world's 25 most inspiring women, she earned the acclaim and reverence of critics who, in their mourning, heralded her as one of the most important African-American novelists of the century.
In expressing condolences, AKA’s International President Barbara A. McKinzie noted that Campbell was inducted as an Honorary Member in 1994. McKinzie declared that being an Honorary Member is the Sorority’s highest honor, and Campbell embodied the ideals of the Alpha Kappa Alpha woman. She praised her for giving of her time and talent to promote the Sorority's service mission.
Said McKinzie: "Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority has lost a sister who inspired us with her involvement, her passion and her love. The world has also lost a woman whose conviction and courage were reflected in her gift of writing. As she makes her transition to eternal life, she will be remembered for the impact she had on our Sorority and on the world. I speak on behalf of our 200,000 members in mourning her loss and offering condolences to her husband, Ellis Gordon, Jr.; son, Ellis Gordon III; daughter, Maia Campbell; her mother, Doris Moore; two grandchildren; and a legion of fans."
Campbell served on the Board of Trustees of her alma mater, the University of Pittsburgh (1971). In her honor, the University is creating a Memorial Display, featuring her books in the popular reading area of its Hillman Library.